A question for Arthur Blank: Is this the best that the Falcons can do?

Earlier this week, Arthur Blank was in a much better frame of mind than he was on Sunday. That was before Sunday, when the football team that he has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into stumbled its way to its fifth consecutive loss and caused him to literally double-over on the sideline.

The National Women’s Soccer League had announced that Blank is the owner of a franchise that will begin play in Atlanta in 2028, and Blank was pleased to speak about his commitment to ensuring that the team will be a success.

“Our attitude has always been, in all of our businesses and every opportunity we have — really, the philosophy is that it’s either the best or nothing,” Blank told media on a videoconference.

So, what is there to say about the Falcons?

A team that Blank himself touted in July that “I feel strongly that we’re in a different place than we’ve been the last few years” all but clinched that it will miss the postseason for an eighth consecutive year Sunday with its 30-27 overtime loss to the Carolina Panthers at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The Falcons are not the best and are not on a path toward it. At this point, “average” would be an accomplishment. How does Blank assert that he tolerates only the best and yet oversees a team that is flawed and plummeting?

This is a team that has the talent to, at the least, have a winning record and be in the playoff hunt, but the Falcons are 3-7 and essentially out of hope. They had more talent than their opponent on Sunday, and yet the Panthers have swept them for the season.

Whether it’s puzzling game-management decisions, the team not being ready to play or players making mistakes and failing to execute at critical moments, Blank’s team is performing far below its potential.

It did it again Sunday, when the Falcons let a 21-7 second-quarter lead go to waste by missing tackles, dropping passes, drawing penalties, fumbling the ball away, making off-target throws and calling ineffective plays, among other errors.

An optimistic Falcons fan could have drawn hope from the past two losses — by one point on the road to the New England Patriots and in overtime to the Indianapolis Colts in Berlin — on the grounds that they were narrow defeats to teams likely bound for the playoffs.

What is there to take from losing at home with the season on the line to a team that isn’t as talented, and had earlier this season given the Falcons one of the most humiliating defeats in franchise history?

Can Blank honestly tell the fans who pay thousands for personal seat licenses, season tickets and merchandise, who devote their Sundays to this team, that this franchise is the best in its class?

If Blank’s fortunes rested on a coach leading his team to the playoffs, would he select Morris? Does he believe that offensive coordinator Zac Robinson, whose offense is among the least effective in the NFL despite three elite pieces in running back Bijan Robinson, wide receiver Drake London and right guard Chris Lindstrom, and a promising quarterback in Michael Penix Jr., is anywhere close to the best that he can employ? Are the Falcons’ special teams doing the best job they possibly can?

Blank doesn’t hold back in his support of the franchise. But, with an eighth consecutive season without a playoff practically secured, it seems pretty clear that it’s not operating like it ought to be.

Only one team has a longer active playoff drought, the New York Jets. The Panthers are tied with the Falcons at seven seasons but have a shot at making the playoffs this year with a 6-5 record. They would have a better shot at snapping their streak if they could figure out a way to play the Falcons a third time this season.

It’s difficult to make leadership changes, particularly if it involves people as decent as Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot. No one wants that job. For all involved, it would be great if the Falcons somehow turned the ship around.

But there’s not a lot of reason to think that it will.

Even Morris, to his credit, acknowledged that he’s not cutting it. I asked him to assess his leadership of the team in light of the fact that he keeps saying things like “We’ve got to get that fixed” only for the losing to continue.

“Not good,” he said. “We’ve lost a bunch of games in a row in tight moments and we’ve got to find a way to win those games. It definitely is on me. There’s no such thing as a losing team. There’s only a losing leader. And we lost.”

In fairness to Morris, the team did do two things much better than it has in recent weeks, stop the run (Carolina gained 67 yards on the ground) and convert third downs (4-for-11). But the Falcons also allowed quarterback Bryce Young to set a franchise record for passing yards (448).

I wanted to ask Blank how he reconciled the state of the team with his “best or nothing” credo. Maybe he already knows that he has to act. Maybe he’s hoping things turn around. Maybe he believes that he actually does have the best in class.

All plausible answers, but he declined my request for comment. Until he decides to offer his thoughts to the fans, the ones whom Blank says are the team’s real owners, his team’s play speaks on his behalf.